China plans to spend 1.8 trillion yuan (286 billion U.S. dollars) on water conservation projects during the 2011-2015 period, a senior official said Friday.

Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei said at a conference on water conservation that the central government will spend about 800 billion yuan, while the rest will be covered by local governments.

The money will be used to relieve droughts and floods, efficiently allocate water usage, protect water resources and establish a mechanism for the scientific development of water conservation, Chen said.

China invested 345.2 billion yuan in water conservation projects last year, about 19 percent of the total investment planned for the 2011-2015 period.